1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to projectiles in general, and in particular to an apparatus for deploying stowed control surfaces of a projectile.
2. Description of Related Art
Control surfaces, commonly known as wings or fins, ensure that a projectile can fly along any path to which it is directed. For an unguided projectile, control surfaces keep the projectile on a straight-line flight path to an intended target. For a guided projectile, such as a heat-seeking missile, control surfaces provide the requisite maneuverability for tracking targets and help to stabilize the projectile along a flight path after maneuvers have been completed.
Control surfaces are preferably designed to be folded within the body of a projectile until the projectile has been launched from a launch platform. Folded control surfaces allow for space-efficient storage and the usage of a simple “tube-launch” system on the launch platform.
The original method of deploying folded control surfaces from within a projectile simply relies on the centripetal force generated by rotational spinning of the projectile. In recent years, environmental seals were introduced to protect projectiles from corrosion, foreign object damage, and other environmental risks. For projectiles having environmental seals, centripetal force alone is generally not sufficient to overcome the resistance of the environmental seals for properly deploying control surfaces. Control surfaces deployment systems intended for a projectile having environmental seals must exert enough energy in order to overcome the resistance created by environmental seals surrounding the projectile as well as powerful aerodynamic or fluid-dynamic loads.
Spring-based control surfaces deployment mechanisms have been utilized to overcome the initial resistance for breaking environmental seals of a projectile. Spring-based control surfaces deployment mechanisms are effective for large diameter projectiles having thin environmental seals launched at low speeds. However, spring-based control surfaces deployment mechanisms tend to be relatively heavy and have a low-energy density, both of which are undesirable for any airborne applications. Furthermore, spring-based control surfaces deployment mechanisms are typically not effective for small diameter projectiles having more resistive environmental seals.
Consequently, it would be desirable to provide an improved deployment system capable of deploying control surfaces of a projectile.